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A recent Pennsylvania Superior Court decision considers: (a) whether a father’s child support obligation is limited by a settlement agreement; and (b) whether the court should assign an earning capacity to a mother who provides full time care for a special needs child. Morgan v. Morgan, 2014 PA Super 176  (Pa.Super.2014) Mother and Father in this case were divorced, and settled their economic claims by written agreement in Maryland in […]

Divorced and separated parents in Pennsylvania with children going off to college may wonder who is responsible for paying the tuition. A recent Superior Court court decision reminds us of the law governing college support in Pennsylvania. W.A.M. v. S.P.C., 2014 PA Super 139 (Pa.Super.2014) When Mother and Father divorced in Missouri in 2001, they settled their claims by written agreement, including a provision for child support. Their child support […]

Men who pay child support in Pennsylvania to mothers who were never their wives may wonder whether the children they support are their own. These days, it is easy to administer a home paternity test and quickly learn whether there is a blood relation between the child and the man who is paying support. Yet, it’s a Pandora’s box, and once opened, the consequences might not be as one intended.  That’s […]

When a business owner in Pennsylvania owes child support, he or she may consider whether to include the retained earnings that are not distributed to owners in calculating child support.  A recent decision of the Superior Court (non-precedential) answers this question by making reference to a previous child support decision.  In M.J. v. S.J., No. 747 WDA 2013 (July 16, 2014), the owner of a consulting business organized as a Subchapter […]

Parents who are paying for their children’s college tuition in Pennsylvania may wonder if they are entitled to an adjustment of the support obligation for their minor children who have not yet entered college.  The Superior Court recently addressed that issue in an unpublished decision, M.J. v. S.J., No. 747 WDA 2013 (July 16, 2014).  The mother of the children in that case was receiving child support from the children’s father. […]

In Crouse v. Crouse, No. 639 MDA 2013 (unpublished, January 7, 2014), the mother and father settled their child and spousal support case when they first separated in 2008. At that time, Father was a principal of a corporation in the construction industry. Eleven months later, the support obligation was reduced when one of the children was emancipated, and subsequently, the spousal support terminated. In the fall of 2012, Father petitioned […]